Chandler, AZ --- HIVE REMOVAL BRINGS ON BEE ATTACK, COUPLE TRIED 'TO JUST SMACK THEM'--- A swarm of angry bees attacked a Chandler man and his wife Monday after the couple fashioned their own protective bee suits and attempted to squash a hive of 60,000 bees. "Apparently they were trying to just smack them, and you don't just smack bees," said Chandler fire Capt. Dan Couch. "They get very hostile." Rafeal Salazar, 33, was stung 20 to 25 times in his face and was taken to Chandler Regional Hospital for treatment. A 1-year-old boy with a history of asthma also was taken to the hospital as a precaution after he was stung three or four times, Couch said. Several other people, including a few children and Salazar's wife, also were stung, but none required hospitalization. The bees, likely domesticated honeybees, had been living underneath a deck behind the Salazar home for about six months before the couple pulled the decking off Monday and tried to break up the hive. The bees may have been more active than usual for this time of year because of the warm weather, Couch said. Usually, hives don't grow until the spring. Monday's attack was at least the third massive bee swarm in the East Valley over the past five months. In August, a Mesa electrician was stung more than 700 times after he confronted a swarm of angry bees atop a 120-foot water tower. Earlier that same month, an elderly Mesa homeowner was stung more than 150 times as he attempted to remove a beehive from a barbecue grill in his back yard. Firefighters said they didn't know what prompted the Salazars to choose Monday to try to eradicate their hive. "You can actually coexist with bees like that," Couch said. "If you don't bother them, they won't bother you. "Leave them alone." Firefighters were called to the Salazars' home in the 500 block of North Apache Drive around 1:50 p.m. by somebody who said that one person had been stung. When they arrived, fire crews found Rafeal with shortness of breath and his face swelling up and Estell covered with bees. "When the bees attack, they attack en masse," Couch said. "They come at you in a solid block." Estell Salazar, 25, had donned loose-fitting clothes to kill the bees, and she had taped her wrists and ankles to keep bees out, Couch said. She had taken a Christmas bag with a drawstring, cut out a hole for her face and covered it with mesh to make a mask. Still, the bees managed to sting her nose a couple of times. Rafeal Salazar had his wrists and ankles taped and wore gloves, but his face apparently was unprotected. The bees dispersed throughout the neighborhood, buzzing around -- but not attacking -- as far as two blocks away. Firefighters couldn't safely remove the hive. The bees were destroyed with foam spray. (Judi Villa ,The Arizona Republic, 12/29/98).

Los Angeles, CA --- PRESENCE OF AFRICANIZED BEES GROWING IN SOUTHLAND --- The Los Angeles Times reported today the DNA testing of a nest of bees discovered in an apartment house in Lawndale were Africanized bees. The bees are believed by county authorities to have entered the county from cargo ships from South and Central America. The article reports there have been a handful of incidents in recent years in which Africanized bees have entered Los Angeles County by cargo ship, according to the county officials interviewed. Of greater concern, according to public officials, is the recent discovery of Africanized bees in urban areas of Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Africanized bees have been trapped as far west as Corona, Norco and Fontana, and entomologists have been waiting for them to rear their stingers on unwitting victims. San Bernardino County officials say they now consider all of the county to be colonized by the Africanized honey bees, given how they have been detected both in the High Desert and the urban valley. Riverside County officials say that based on captured samples, they assume Africanized bees have established themselves in all but the southernmost parts of their county. The only Africanized beehive found so far in urban Riverside County was in a ground-level water valve at a Moreno Valley school. It was detected by maintenance crews and safely eliminated in October, and more recently was confirmed as Africanized. Orange County has yet to report the presence of Africanized bees, officials say. Africanized bees have settled in the foothills separating San Diego County's desert and urban valleys, but have not colonized farther west, officials there say. Los Angeles County agricultural Commissioner Cato Fiksdal said that although the migration has not yet reached his county, the bees are assumed to be buzzing at the door. "They're going to come," he said Wednesday. "We won't be able to stop them, and we'll have to learn to live with them." Whether colonies of naturally migrating Africanized bees will begin showing up in Los Angeles or Orange Counties today, tomorrow or in a week or month is anybody's guess, experts say. Africanized bees arrived in California's eastern desert in 1994. Imperial County was soon declared colonized, but the bees' migration stalled in the desert because there wasn't enough water to sustain their march and because they were suppressed by parasites. Last winter's El Niņo rains provided enough water and flower bloom to nourish the pioneers' migration through the desert this summer, experts say, and they set up colonies in the Coachella Valley and Barstow. Africanized bees either establish their own colonies or invade and eventually take over European honey bee colonies. For residents of Imperial County, the bees have become a fact of life. This year, officials there have received 550 reports of bees--75% of which proved to be Africanized, compared to 210 bee calls in 1997. (Tom Gorman & Jean Merl, The Los Angeles Times, 12/17/98).

Lawndale, CA --- KILLER-BEE SWARM KILLED IN L.A. COUNTY PROBABLY ARRIVED AS SHIP STOWAWAYS --- Killer bees have been exterminated in the Los Angeles area, but they probably arrrived as stowaways on cargo ships rather than in the land migration that has crossed the deserts into California, authorities said Wednesday. Exterminators spent about two hours on Tuesday spraying an apartment building in this south Los Angeles County city to kill the first known colony of the aggressive bees in the metropolitan area. They had earlier stung some city employees. "It's not the first incident in this county," said Cato Fiksdal, the county agricultural commissioner. "It's the first swarm that's established a colony." Fiksdal suggested that the Africanized honeybees have found a shortcut to the Pacific Coast of the United States via cargo containers from Central and South America. Since entering the state about two years ago from Mexico or Arizona, they have colonized about 33,820 square miles inland, according to the state Department of Agriculture. They may be found anywhere in Imperial or San Bernardino counties and parts of Riverside and San Diego counties. A San Bernardino gardener was hospitalized in stable condition Wednesday after being stung numerous times when a swarm emerged from a back yard hive on Tuesday. A woman passerby, her two children and two firefighters received lesser stings. Firefighters used foam to smother the bees, which fire Battalion Chief Tom Parlett described as very aggressive. It was the first bee attack within San Bernardino city limits, he said. In June, a swarm stung two Blythe men hundreds of times. Until now, no colonies have been reported in heavily populated Los Angeles or Orange counties. However, it was widely expected that their arrival from the east was just a matter of time. But the Lawndale incident did not appear to be that eventuality. "We do not believe that this is part of the natural progression of the bee coming up from Southern California and Arizona," he said. "This is no doubt a hitchhiker that has come in on freight or something from an infested area," Fiksdal said. Lawndale, 19 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles, is alongside Interstate 405, an artery for cargo containers headed north from the Port of Los Angeles. "We found a swarm in the Carson area some weeks ago that we also believe came out of the port," he said. "That's even closer." As early as last year, a swarm was detected on a ship from Central America and exterminated aboard, Fiksdal said. So far, every killer bee sighted in the city has been killed, Fiksdal said. "We're not prepared to say the county is infested yet," he said. "We have people out with nets looking for them." Authorities will issue a notification if there are signs that the bees are establishing themselves, he said. (AP, 12/16/98).

Lawndale, CA --- KILLER BEES INVADE LA COUNTY --- A massive hive of Africanized ``killer'' bees has been found in Los Angeles County for the first time. Some Lawndale city employees had been stung late last month, but only now have the bees been identified as the ``killer'' variety. Their four-foot by six-foot hive was found inside the walls of an apartment building behind the Public Works yard. Exterminators have destroyed the colony. The honeycomb is now being removed. (States News Service, 12/16/98).

San Bernardino, CA --- SEVERAL PEOPLE ATTACKED BY AFRICANIZED HONEY BEES --- Several people were stung by Africanized honey bees after a back yard hive thought to be empty was disturbed, authorities said. "A swarm of bees came in and made a home in the closed hives," said city fire Battalion Chief Tom Parlett. "The bees were very aggressive." A gardener working near the hive was stung 30 to 90 times in the face about noon on the 1400 block of Valencia Avenue, said Parlett. A mother walking her children to school in the residential neighborhood, along with two firefighters at the scene, also were stung several times, Parlett said. Amateur beekeeper Bill Adams at first thought he could smoke out the swarm of 200 bees. "I thought they were normal bees, then one crawled inside my ear. I found out later that they were 46 percent Africanized killer bees," Adams said. The gardener, whose name was not immediately released, was taken to San Bernardino County Medical Center. The stings were not life threatening. The woman and her children sought medical treatment on their own. Firefighters used foam to smother the bees, which were about 60 percent Africanized and 40 percent domestic honey bees, Parlett said. San Bernardino Vector Control took some of the live bees for testing. It is believed the swarm was killed by the foam or dispersed by high winds. It was the first reported bee attack within the city, the battalion chief said. Africanized honey bees first were found in San Bernardino County in April in Joshua Tree National Monument. In June, a swarm stung two Blythe men hundreds of times. The bees, sometimes referred to as killer bees, defend their hives more quickly and pursue intruders more intensively than their common relative, European honey bees. (AP, 12/16/98).

San Bernardino, CA --- AFRICANIZED BEES HAVE SET UP SHOP IN SAN BERNARDINO VALLEY --- Africanized honey bees have established hives throughout the San Bernardino Valley, prompting county officials to designate the area as colonized." Residents were put on alert after officials the aggressive bees, also known as killer bees, in four areas of the valley."They move faster and swarm more than the traditional European honey bees," said Rod Lampman, entomologist for the San Bernardino County Department of Agriculture. "These are bees with attitudes." Africanized bees were found first in San Bernardino County in April in Joshua Tree National Monument. In June, a swarm stung two Blythe men hundreds of times. The men survived. In 1995, two tree trimmers working in eastern Riverside County were attacked by a swarm and stung more than a dozen times each in what officials called the first such attack in that county. They also survived. The killer bees began moving this fall out of the deserts and toward more populated areas. The California Department of Food and Agriculture commissioned an intensive search of the county in September. Officials dragged nets through vegetation populated by bees and found the ornery pests in portions of Oak Glen, Wildwood Canyon near Yucaipa, Mill Creek near Mentone, and northern Fontana. Other California areas believed colonized by the Africanized bees include the Coachella and Palo Verde valleys of Riverside County; Joshua Tree National Monument; Borrego Springs in San Diego County; Imperial County; and the Colorado River Valley from Yuma, Ariz. to Needles. Africanized honey bees defend their hives more quickly and pursue intruders more intensively than their common relative, European honey bees. While the risk of being stung and killed by the Africanized bees is relatively low, people should be cautious, said F. Kirk Visscher, associate professor of entomology at the University of California, Riverside. "There's not been a whole lot of people killed but there have been a few," Visscher said. "Compared to dying in automobile accidents or even murder rates, it's pretty low." (AP, 12/10/98).

San Bernardino, CA --- KILLER BEES INVADE INLAND CITIES --- Thousands of so-called killer bees have swarmed into cities in the San Bernardino Valley. The discovery has prompted county agriculture officials to put the entire area on alert. Officials dragged nets through vegetation in areas populated by bees and found the Africanized honey bees in Oak Glen, areas near Yucaipa and Mentone and northern Fontana. County agriculture officials have declared the entire San Bernardino Valley colonized by the bees, which means they have arrived and set up hives. While officials say there is no reason to panic, they do warn residents to be more careful. (States News Service, 12/10/98).

San Diego, CA --- KILLER BEES FOUND 40 MILES EAST OF SAN DIEGO --- So-called killer bees have been found only 40 miles east of downtown San Diego. Officials using sweep nets found the Africanized honeybees along I-Eight in the east county... moving in a westward direction. The area includes Alpine and points east to the mountains. But a researcher says the bees they found were just foraging. They have not found any colonies or swarms of the killer bees. That means any colonies are small now. However, researchers expect the bees to make their way into urban areas of San Diego, Orange County and Los Angeles by next year. (States News Service, 12/10/98).

Thermal, CA --- KILLER BEE ATTACK CONFIRMED --- State officials confirm a date farmer is the victim of an attack by so-called killer bees. The farmer was working at an R-V park in Indio when he was attacked and stung more than 100 times. The report from the California Department of Agriculture confirms the man was stung by Africanized bees. This is the first human to be seriously stung by the bees in the Coachella Valley. (States News Service, 12/8/98).

Indio, CA --- OFFICIALS PROBE KILLER BEE ATTACK --- Riverside County agriculture experts are investigating a possible killer bee attack. An Indio man was attacked by a swarm of bees at a campground. He was harvesting dates when he came across a beehive. Witnesses say his entire body was covered with bees. The victim was taken to a nearby hospital after being stung more than 100 times. The experts are analyzing the bees to determine if they are indeed the Africanized honey bees. (States News Service, 11/25/98).

Phoenix, AZ --- ANGRY BEES STING PUPPY TO DEATH --- A 5-month-old puppy named Xena died after she was stung an estimated 500 times in an eastside Africanized bee attack. The attack occurred around 2 p.m. Thursday in the back yard of a home in the 1500 block of South Prudence Drive, said Joanne Patty, the puppy's owner. ``I got her on the 21st of August and she just grew and thrived. She was one of those dogs that you knew would be a wonderful, wonderful animal when it grew up - just funny and fun,'' Patty said last night. Xena, a 35-pound chow mix, was in a 15-foot-by-15-foot backyard kennel when the bees attacked. Patty said she went into the yard to hang some clothes on the line when she noticed the black dog was ``laying funny.'' On closer inspection she saw that Xena's ``whole head was covered with bees.'' Patty carried the dog inside the house and placed her under running water in the shower, then tried to brush some of the bees out of her coat. She took the puppy to a veterinary hospital on East Broadway, where the veterinarian estimated Xena had been stung about 500 times. Xena died about six hours later, said Patty, who was not stung. "We pulled stingers out of her whole head - face, ears, lips and tongue - and turned her over and started pulling them off her belly and legs and tail,'' she said. "They were everywhere. It was absolutely the most frightening thing in my life.'' The bees came from a large Africanized colony living next door in the floor of 12-foot by 8-foot shed owned by Miguel Dominguez, said Tom Martin of AAA Africanized Bee Removal Specialists. Dominguez had known the bees were living in the shed for at least a year. He decided to kill them by throwing a bucket of soapy water at the entrance to the hive, Martin said. The bees exploded from the hive when the water hit, and Dominguez fled into his house, Martin said. The bees then flew into the next yard and attacked the dog. Contacted last night, Dominguez said, ``I don't want no publicity on this, sir,'' then hung up the phone. Martin said there were more than 40,000 bees in the colony. (Jim Erickson, The Arizona Daily Star, 11/7/98).

San Bernardino, CA --- LAB CONFIRMS KILLER BEE ATTACK --- Lab tests confirm that killer bees are responsible for an attack on six people in a San Bernardino County desert town. An official in the county's agriculture department says honey bees from the incident last week at Big River were the Africanized kind. The super-aggressive bees chased an 86-year-old man into his house and stung him more than 500 times. They then swarmed and attacked rescuers. The man and his wife were apparently unaware the bees were on their property. People are being warned to bee-proof their property. The Africanized bees are found near the Colorado River all the way to the Los Angeles County line. Testing is underway to determine if the so-called killer bees have invaded the San Bernardino Valley. So far, they have only been found in desert areas.(States News Service, 10/29/98).

Big River, CA --- KILLER BEES ATTACK, FOLLOW AMBULANCE --- Three people are hospitalized after being attacked by killer bees in San Bernardino County. The three residents of Big River were taken to an Arizona hospital after being attacked and stung. Authorities say the bees followed the ambulance for almost a half-mile before the patients could be transferred to another emergency vehicle. Three firefighters trying to rescue the victims were also taken to the hospital with multiple stings. Fire officials say Africanized honeybees are very aggressive... and may be relentless in protecting their hives. (States News Service, 10/23/98).

College Station, TX --- FOUR COUNTIES ADDED TO QUARANTINE FOR AFRICANIZED BEES --- Four counties today were added to the state quarantine restricting the movement of commercial bee operations following the detection of Africanized honey bees. Blanco, Kendall, Throckmorton and Haskell counties make 107 counties in Texas now quarantined for Africanized honey bees, according to Paul Jackson, chief inspector for the Texas Apiary Inspection Service, a unit of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. Jackson noted that no bees actually were found in Kendall County, but it was quarantined because the positive identification of Africanized bees in Blanco County meant that Kendall County was completely surrounded by quarantined counties. Jackson said it can be assumed that the Africanized bees are in Kendall County therefore, but that none have actually been identified in the area yet. Jackson said samples from the finds in Blanco, Haskell and Throckmorton counties were analyzed by Texas A&M's honey bee identification lab and found to be Africanized. In all cases, the hives were destroyed. A swarm of bees were found three miles southwest of Blanco when a dog was stung. Jackson said the dog had been tied, but was set free after the stinging began. The dog ran but later returned and was stung to death. In Haskell County, about 1.5 miles west of Rochester, a wild colony of bees was found in the gas tank of an old truck. Jackson said there was a minor stinging incident of people around the area, but none was serious and everyone has recovered. About 26 miles north of Albany in Throckmorton County, a wild swarm was found in an old building near the ground. No one was stung in this case, he said. (Kathleen Philips, Texas A&M Agriculture News, 10/14/98).

San Antonio, TX --- MORE COUNTIES PUT UNDER BEE QUARANTINE --- After a 4-year-old black cocker spaniel was killed by more than 1,000 stings from an Africanized bee attack, state officials Wednesday added Blanco County in the Texas Hill Country to a list of 107 counties under state bee restrictions. "The dog was brought in with severe convulsions after it had been stung about a thousand times," said Dr. David Behrends, the Blanco County veterinarian who treated Socks. "There was not much we could do," the veterinarian said. "Ten minutes after it got here, it died." The incident in mid-September has been confirmed as an attack by Africanized bees, also known as "killer bees" because of their aggressiveness. The Blanco attack occurred about three miles southwest of the city at the Haass residence. Nell Haass said her husband, Joe, is a beekeeper and was checking on some hives that had been empty when the attack occurred. "The dog was tied up and couldn't get away. When my husband saw what was happening, he untied him, but the dog kept running to him for help. "My husband (in a protective suit) was covered with bees and they kept attacking the dog," she said. In addition to the family pet, several other animals were stung -- including a show goat and a horse -- although not seriously enough to cause major trauma, she said. State officials also added Kendall, Throckmorton and Haskell counties to the killer-bee quarantine Wednesday after detecting potentially dangerous Africanized bees in the area. Paul Jackson, chief inspector for the Texas Apiary Inspection Service, said the quarantine prohibits beekeepers from moving their hives out of the zone in an effort to prevent the further spread of Africanized bees. Nearly half of the state's 254 counties have been quarantined since the aggressive bees first were detected in the United States near Brownsville in October 1990. The bees, which look like regular honeybees but are much more defensive in protecting their hives, have spread to the south of a line roughly running from south of Houston to south of Lubbock. While no bees were found in Kendall County, the addition of Blanco County to the list means Kendall is surrounded by other Central Texas counties covered by the quarantine. Haskell and Throckmorton counties share a boundary north of Abilene. A wild colony of bees found in an old truck in Haskell caused a few minor stinging incidents involving nearby residents, officials said. The swarm discovered in a rural Throckmorton County building did not harm anyone. All three bee colonies were destroyed. While European bees tend to swarm in the spring, Africanized bee swarms have been observed 12 months a year in parts of South Texas, officials said. (Ralph Winingham, San Antonio Express-News, 10/14/98).

Phoenix, AZ --- HIKER SURVIVES BEE ATTACK --- A hiker has survived a bee attack while mountain climbing. Scott McAllister was on a ridge about 30- feet up yesterday when a swarm of bees attacked him. He was able to climb the rest of the way to the mountain top and run away from the bees... but not without being stung 20- times. Also yesterday --- a swarm of bees attacked a Peoria construction crew. Local firefighters called to the scene were able to kill the swarm and their queen. (States News Service, 10/6/98).

Tucson, AZ --- ALLERGIC REACTION TO TWO BEE STINGS KILLS TUCSONAN --- A 66-year-old Tucson man who was allergic to bees died this month at a Tucson hospital after being stung twice by Africanized honeybees. Lorenzo E. Castaneda, of the 5500 block of S. Melpomene Way on the far eastside, died Sept. 5 at Tucson Medical Center, said hospital spokesman Mike Letson. He is the fourth Arizonan killed by Africanized ``killer'' honeybees and the first from Pima County, said Tom Martin of AAA Africanized Bee Removal Specialists. However, Castaneda would have had the same reaction to European honeybee stings, Martin said yesterday. Castaneda was admitted to the hospital Aug. 9 after the stinging incident, and he remained there until his death. Letson would not disclose the cause of death, but said Castaneda spent most of his time in the cardiac intensive care unit. Castaneda suffered a severe allergic reaction and had several heart attacks immediately after he was stung, said Scott Umphress, his son-in-law. ``His heart stopped three or four times,'' Umphress said yesterday. ``They shocked him 17 times to bring him back. They brought him back to life several times - like four times.'' Umphress said Castaneda regained consciousness the night of the attack, and ``started doing good'' a few days later. But his heart had been damaged and other organs - including the kidneys and liver - began to fail, he said. Castaneda was in his yard, preparing to hose down a horse, when he was stung - once on the eyelid and once on the neck, Umphress said. He was standing 65 to 75 feet from an unoccupied wood-frame building on his property, Martin said. Bees had been living in the building for at least four years, Martin said. A colony of about 45,000 bees was removed after the stinging incident, he said. AAA Africanized Bee Removal Specialists removed the bees from Castaneda's property and determined they were Africanized, Martin said. There is little difference in the toxicity of European and Africanized honeybee venom. European honeybees, which are a bit larger than Africanized bees, hold slightly more venom than Africanized bees. Allergic reactions are caused by hypersensitivity to a substance - in this case proteins in the bee venom - resulting from a misdirected response by the body's immune system. Even a single sting can kill a person with a severe allergy to the proteins in bee venom. Africanized bees, which sometimes attack in large numbers with little provocation, can pose a different kind of threat. That many bees can deliver a lethal dose of venom, even if the victim is not allergic to bee stings. (Jim Erickson, The Arizona Daily Star, 9/23/98)

Boulder City, NV --- KILLER BEES SUSPECTED IN DEATH OF NEVADA DOG --- Authorities suspect Africanized bees attacked two dogs in their back yard, killing one. Each dog was stung more than 100 times Saturday. State agriculture officials are studying some of the bees to determine if they were of the aggressive, Africanized variety. So-called killer bees have killed more than 1,000 people in South America, Central America and Mexico since a colony escaped from a laboratory in Brazil in 1957. Swarms of Africanized bees have been found in Pahrump, 60 miles west of Las Vegas. Boulder City is 25 miles south of Las Vegas. (AP, 9/23/98)

Pima County, AZ --- BOARD WON'T BAN BEES, CONSIDERS A NUISANCE LAW --- Pima County apparently will start treating domesticated bees that attack people as public nuisances but won't ban bee colonies. The Board of Supervisors' request yesterday to the county Board of Health for help with the bee issue didn't go as far as an angry group of northwest-side residents had wanted. They pushed the board to ban beekeeping in suburban areas. Their effort stemmed from a string of recent neighborhood incidents in which they said bees belonging to hobbyist Jesse James Wilson had attacked them. Instead, the supervisors voted 5-0 to ask the health board to return in 30 to 60 days with a proposal. It would give the county authority to order problem beekeepers to take steps to keep their bees from attacking people. Currently, the county lacks such authority. The board's vote came after three residents of the West Ina Road-North La Caņada Drive area told of their problems with Wilson's bees, and after three beekeepers and researchers urged the board not to severely restrict beekeeping. Afterward, resident Donna Pratt said that putting beekeeping problems under nuisance laws would be great. ``We've had zoning enforcement out, the Sheriff's Department out and the Health Department out, but the man's not doing anything illegal now. No one is able to help at this point,'' she said. ``I'm not looking to change the whole thing.'' But Peter Vokac, president of the La Caņada/Magee Neighborhood Association, predicted that more comprehensive zoning restrictions for bees are inevitable. Beekeepers and researchers testified yesterday that banning domesticated bee colonies would create a void that would allow the aggressive, Africanized bees to move into areas they now don't live. Supervisor Raul Grijalva posed this question to the board: ``Does the county, to satisfy one individual case, propose regulations to affect all of Pima County? How do we reconcile one problem without having such far-reaching results where we don't affect all beekeepers?'' The Health Department needs authority to conduct hive inspections, make public health assessments and order a bad beekeeper to get his bees out, said department Director Dennis Douglas. With the proper authority, the board could treat bee problems in the same style it handles homeowners who have messy front yards, Douglas said. The health board will start discussing this issue tomorrow. ``The board will recommend how to find a solution that is reasonable in the context of one that allows beekeeping,'' he said. ``In the majority of the community this is not a problem. To declare a public health problem is an overstatement.'' (Tony Davis, The Arizona Daily Star, 9/23/98)

Scottsdale, AZ --- GARDENERS STUNG BY ANGRY BEES --- Two gardeners in Scottsdale were treated for multiple stings after the noise and vibration of their lawn mower sent a swarm of angry bees their way. The pair were attacked Monday afternoon while working in the front yard of a residence in the 9800 block of North 86th Street, said Rural/Metro Fire Department spokesman Colin Williams. The gardeners and the homeowner were not aware of a basketball-size hive underneath the eaves of the house, Williams said. Firefighters in protective gear backed up an ambulance to remove the workers. One of the men had three or four stings on his arm, while the other was stung 20 to 30 times, Williams said. They were released after treatment at Scottsdale Healthcare North Hospital. A firefighter was stung once in the forehead but did not require medical treatment. Firefighters sprayed a foam-and-water mixture on the bees to kill them. Williams said they could not get a beekeeper there in time and were concerned that the bees might attack children and others. Williams did not know whether the bees were European honeybees or the more aggressive Africanized kind. (The Arizonia Republic, 9/22/98)

Oracle, AZ --- THEY'RE HERE, AND THEY'RE NASTY. WORST CASE BEES HAVE TAKEN OVER --- The Arizona Daily Star reported today the wild honey bee colonies under study in Oracle exhibit the "extreme defensive behavior" oft associated with Africanized bees observed in South America years-ago. Gerald Loper, recently-retired USDA researcher, has been studying the honey bee colonies on the hillsides of Oracle since 1987. In June, Loper reported being driven from the site by the study bees. "Their behavior has changed dramatically," says Loper. "It's the Africanization. It's the gene change." Loper says the wild honey bee colonies inhabiting the cliffs about 10 miles north of Oracle are the meanest, nastiest bees he's ever seen. "This is the worst-case scenario we were talking about 20 years ago. People would go to Brazil to see these bees and say, 'We don't want them here,'" he said. "Well, they're here." Scientists from the Carl Hayden Bee Research Laboratory in Tucson believe several factors have contributed to the establishment of the bees in areas formerly occupied by the more docile European honey bee. These include decimation of European bees by parasitic mites, the increased abundance of Africanized drones, increased bee pasture resulting from El Nino, and the Africanized bee's rapid reproductive rate. Also, virgin queen bees of Africanized fathers emerge up to a day earlier than those with European fathers. After emerging, new queens instinctively seek and destroy the cells of their unemerged siblings, some of which may be of European decent. It's a biological advantage -- skewing the number of wild colonies in favor of those headed by Africanized queens. If these virgin Africanized queens mate with Africanized drones, "you'll start to see the symptoms of Africanization right away, said Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffman, a research entomologist at the Tucson Hayden bee lab. "Now you have a defensive colony," she said. "How defensive it is depends upon how many African drones she's mated with." (Jim Erickson, The Arizona Daily Star, 9/21/98).

College Station, TX --- CALLAHAN COUNTY QUARANTINED FOR AFRICANIZED BEES. --- Callahan County today was added to the state quarantine restricting the movement of commercial bee operations following the detection of Africanized honey bees there. Texas now has 103 counties quarantined for Africanized honey bees, according to Paul Jackson, chief inspector for the Texas Apiary Inspection Service, a unit of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. The bees were found in a wooden trunk in the garage of a home near Baird. No one was stung. Jackson said a sample analyzed by Texas A&M's honey bee identification lab was found to be Africanized. (Kathleen Philips, Texas A&M Agriculture News, 9/2/98).

Mesa, AZ --- BEES USUALLY HAVE REASON TO ATTACK, EXPERTS SAY. Bees don't go berserk for the fun of it. "Almost every time you hear of a bee attack someone has used poor judgment and provoked them," said local beekeeper Susan Cote of SRB Beekeepers. Cote cites two recent confrontations as classic examples. On Wednesday an electrician was stung more than 700 times by angry bees that had been sprayed with an insecticide for two consecutive days. The unprotected electrician, who spent Wednesday night at Mesa Lutheran Hospital, was attempting to change a beacon light atop a 120-foot water tower at Williams Gateway Airport in Mesa. Earlier this month an 88-year-old Mesa man was stung more than 150 times as he tried to remove a beehive from a barbecue grill in his back yard."Everyone thinks that if bees are aggressive they must be Africanized," Cote said. "But in most situations the bees are just normal bees." However, longtime Valley beekeeper Bob Chapman of Valley Bee Control believes "normal" includes the Africanized influence now. Chapman feels feral bees are more aggressive than they were five years ago because of the influence of the Africanized bee gene in non-commercial colonies. Still, Chapman said bee-human conflicts stem from people acting aggressively toward the bees. Bob Khan, a spokesman for the Phoenix Fire Department, said many 911 emergency bee calls involve kids who have knocked hives out of trees or construction workers who inadvertently disturb colonies while opening walls of old buildings. "We are receiving an enormous amount of calls this year," Khan said. "We've received 98 emergency calls so far this year compared to only 68 for all of last year." The Mesa Fire Department reports 124 bee calls this year and 166 last year. Those were all calls relating to bees, not just medical emergencies. Chapman said bees are most active in summer months after establishing hives. This is also when they're more aggressive if disturbed. "Bees are non-aggressive when swarming in the spring," Chapman said. Cote believes the increase in bee emergency calls is due to an increase in the feral bee population in the Valley this past year, thanks to El Nino rains, which produced a bumper crop of wildflowers. Cote said that this year she and her beekeeper husband have already relocated more than a thousand hives from residential and commercial properties. "I'm receiving five or six calls a day this time of year," Cote said. If you are attacked by bees, Cote said, it's crucial not to panic. Swatting at them and moving around vigorously only exacerbates the stinging frenzy. "Ideally, you should walk as fast as possible into an enclosure like your house or car or whatever is closest," Cote said. "You want to cut yourself off from the bees." If you encounter a hive, don't move it yourself, Cote said. Call a beekeeper who knows how to handle bees. Bee removal services are listed in the Yellow Pages under "Bee Removal." Most charge $25 to $75, depending on the location. Entomologists remind us that bees are important pollinators and should never be wantonly destroyed. (Thomas Ropp, The Arizona Republic, 8/25/98)

Statewide, OR -- OREGON EXPECTS A BEE STING -- Many believe it's too cold in Oregon for Africanized killer bees to survive... but they'll have an impact here anyway. Oregon State University bee specialist Mike Burgett says honey bees are being trucked from Oregon to California... where they will mate with African bees. The result is a hybrid that has some of the aggressive traits of killer bees. Burgett expects the hybrid to be a problem for people in Oregon... but less so than in warmer climates. (States News Service, 8/7/98)

San Diego, CA -- KILLER BEES APPEAR IN SD COUNTY. -- San Diego County rescue workers are being trained on how to deal with killer bees. This after confirmation that the Africanized bees have appeared in East San Diego County. D-N-A tests confirmed that bees captured by a U-C Davis researcher in Jacumba were indeed Africanized bees. An environmental management specialist for the county's Department Of Weight And Measures says the find means the killer bees are poised to advance into the county's irrigated, blossoming suburban areas. So far, only foraging bees have been found. Colonies, or nests, have not. (States News Service, 8/6/98).

Bisbee, AZ - "The Panic, The Fear" - BEES STING 15 IN BISBEE, KILL DOG IN TUCSON -- A swarm of Africanized bees yesterday stung pedestrians, motorists, dogs - even pigeons in flight - in an attack authorities here said was unprecedented in its ferocity. I have never experienced or heard of anything like what happened here today - the panic, the fear,'' said Sgt. Ben Reyna of the Bisbee Police Department. Another swarm of bees on Sunday attacked a family outside its central Tucson home and killed a black Labrador retriever trapped by its tether. At least 15 people and two dogs are known to have been stung in the Bisbee swarming incident, which began about 9:45 a.m. The 15-minute attack injured eight people badly enough to require bee sting treatment at Copper Queen Community Hospital, according to Bisbee police. At the height of the bees' frenzy, they even attacked pigeons and other birds flying in the area, said Bisbee Fire Chief Jack Earnest. The attack took place in Brewery Gulch, a narrow canyon where the homes are stacked one atop the other on terraces carved into the mountainside by hard-rock miners more than a century ago. Police and the bee handler who destroyed the hive said the attacks began after the owner of a private warehouse at 103 Brewery Ave. set off an insect fogger in an attempt to drive the bees from the building. Debrah Strait, of the 200 block of Brewery Avenue, was driving down Brewery Gulch when she found herself caught behind a truck. The driver and passenger of that vehicle had already fled after being attacked. Strait began to notice bees coming in through the window she'd left partially open. She tried to push them out the window and even opened the door to get them out. Instead, more bees swarmed into the vehicle, forcing her to quickly park her car and flee. ``I was screaming mostly for help, but I couldn't see anybody, I couldn't hear anybody and I knew I needed somehow to get out of the swarm,'' Strait said. The bees pursued her up the gulch to the home of a neighbor Cleone Gerkin, 75. She said Strait was tearing at her bee-matted clothing and hair and used Gerkin's garden hose to try to wash the bees away. ``I was so frightened; the bees were just swarming around her. Her hair was literally covered with bees. She had taken her shirt off, and her back and her chest were covered, too,'' Gerkin said. Nurses at the hospital told Strait she was stung 200 to 300 times on virtually every part of her body, including the ear canal. She was the most severely stung of the victims, but did not have an allergic reaction to the bee toxin. Also among the injured was Bisbee police Officer David Gonzales, who tried to help other victims before being forced to seek cover at his parents' home nearby. Gonzales was stung many times, including inside his mouth and nostrils. Bees are attracted to the warm, moist breath of humans and animals. Sgt. Reyna said the hive in the building owned by Carmen Chavez had more than 80,000 bees, but only about 10 percent of the bees were involved in the attack. Firefighters sprayed the swarming bees with a soapy water solution that knocks the bees to the ground and suffocates them. But the bees remained active and extremely aggressive for hours after the attack, forcing that section of Brewery Avenue to be closed for most of the day. Reed Booth, an area bee handler and owner of Killer Bee Honey Butter, said the hive had to be destroyed, but enough of the bees survived that they remained a threat to people in the area into the evening. He said the attack could have been avoided if the owner had simply called a bee handler about removing the hive. Chavez, who lives above the warehouse, said he had noticed bees in the storage area over the weekend. He said he hadn't used a fogger in the warehouse, but had ``sprayed something'' there before the attack started. In a separate attack in Tucson, thousands of bees flew out of a vacant house Sunday morning and killed a dog n a back yard next door. The dog was covered with bees when firefighters arrived at the 3200 block of East Bellevue Street around 11 a.m., said Capt. John Hauptman of the Tucson Fire Department. Firefighters carried the dog out of the yard, then sprayed him with foam to get the bees off him, he said. Then they went to the vacant house, tore into a wall with a fire ax and sprayed foam to kill the bees, Hauptman said. The neighborhood is near East Speedway and North Country Club Road. The 85-pound black Lab, Oso, died five hours later at a veterinary clinic. The dog's owner, Carole Davies, said the bees have been in the vacant house for at least two years. She said she tried to contact the property owner, several exterminators and various government agencies to get rid of the bees, but no one helped. Davies said she couldn't reach the property owner, exterminators told her they couldn't enter the neighbor's property without permission, and all the bureaucrats said it wasn't their responsibility. ``I've repeatedly called about this, and nobody would help me,'' Davies said yesterday. ``And now we've had a death of a family member. My dog meant a lot to me, and we watched him die. ``The bees were in his mouth and ears and eyes, and his whole body was just brown with bees,'' she said. ``It was a living nightmare, like you see in the movies.'' Christopher Scott, Davies' husband, was in the back yard when the attack occurred. He was standing next to a wooden fence that separates the Davies house from the vacant house, trying to remove a large pine branch that fell onto the fence, he said. He knew about the bee colony, so he brought a can of insect killer with him, in case there was trouble. ``One of the bees landed on my arm, and I gave him a quick spray,'' Scott said yesterday. ``He took off without stinging me, and I figured that was that. But he was like the messenger that went back to the others to say: `Hey, guess what? We got trouble.' '' Bees poured out of the vacant house and chased Scott into his home. Davies, who also had been outside, rushed indoors with a small dog and a cat. But Oso was still attached to the cable of a dog run in the back yard. Scott said he dialed 911 and donned a long, gray Civil War-style wool coat for protection, then went back for Oso. ``But the whole back yard was a cloud of bees, and they started coming after me,'' Scott said. ``They chased me for a couple blocks, and I got stung seven times. . . . There were thousands and thousands of bees.'' Davies said she was stung nine times. Her daughter, her nephew and one of her daughter's friends also were stung, she said. Three Arizona residents and several pets have been killed in bee attacks since Africanized ``killer'' honeybees migrated into the state from Mexico in 1993. The bees from Bellevue Street were not tested to determine if they were Africanized or European honeybees. But local bee experts say more than 95 percent of the city's wild honeybees are now Africanized bees, which tend to attack in large numbers with little provocation. An 88-year-old Mesa man was hospitalized on Monday after he tried to capture a swarm of bees with a plastic bag, the Associated Press reported. The man was trying to get the bees out of a barbecue grill in his yard. The man tried to cover his head with the bag, but some of the bees were trapped inside it, and they stung him on the face. (Ignacio Ibarra and Jim Erickson, The Arizona Daily Star, 8/5/98).

Mesa, AZ - BEES ATTACK MESA FAMILY. An 88-year-old Mesa man was stung in the face Monday by a swarm of more than 100 bees in a scene straight from a bad science-fiction movie. "I would describe him as having a hive of bees on his face. You could not see his eyes or his nose," said Mesa firefighter Chris Mapel. "It was like a hive being taken out of a tree and placed on his head." Chisha Chang, 88, was attempting to remove bees from a barbecue grill in his back yard at about 2 p.m. in the 1200 block of West Medina Avenue, when they attacked him, said Battalion Chief Gil Damiani of the Mesa Fire Department. Chang was wearing a plastic bag over his head, but it provided little or no protection, with bees flying under the bag to sting him, Damiani said. Susan Cote, of SRB Beekeepers, said it's too soon to tell if the bees were Africanized "killer bees," but she said their behavior was typical of an agitated honeybee hive. Bill Cote, her husband, found a hive with about 70,000 bees attached to the grill. He was waiting until Monday night to remove the hive, hoping that the bees would calm down. Chang and his wife, Mann Hwa Chang, 72, who also suffered stings, were in good condition at Desert Samaritan Hospital. They were expected to be released late Monday, a hospital spokeswoman said. Their daughter, Chi Long Yu, 45, was stung twice but declined treatment, Damiani said. Mesa police Officer Ian Jarvis, the first to arrive at the Chang home in Dobson Ranch, was stung about a dozen times when he pulled the bag off Chisha Chang's face and took him into an enclosed porch, Mapel said. "The police officer did all the real work," the firefighter said. "He got him (Chang) out of the back yard and onto a patio. He did a heck of a job, even though he had no protective clothing like I did." When Mapel and his fellow firefighters arrived, they found Chang lying motionless on the patio, moaning in pain, with the bees attacking his face. Jarvis was standing nearby, with bees still attacking him. Mann Hwa Chang also was being stung and was trying to protect herself with a can of bug spray. "It was the most bizarre thing I ever saw," Mapel said. Damiani said bee stings are common, but attacks as severe as Monday's are highly unusual. Jarvis was taken to Mesa Lutheran Hospital, where he was treated and released. (Jim Walsh, The Arizona Republic, 8/4/98).

Tucson, AZ - NEIGHBORS WITH KILLER BEES LIABLE TO BE STUNG BY LAWYERS --    The Arizona Daily Star reported today residents who knowingly harbor "killer" bees on their property risk being sued by their victimized neighbors.   Recently, several stinging incidents which resulted in the loss of pets and human injury have some Arizona residents considering bringing law suits against neighbors who knew of the bee's presence, but willfully took no action in removing the threat from their property.    Attorneys for injured parties argue homeowners have a "duty" to keep their property in such a way as to not create a hazzard for neighbors.   Those failing to eliminate bees on their property risk being found accountable under tort law.   In tort law, which deals with civil wrongs and injuries, a duty is obligatory conduct that one person owes to another person.   The breach of that "duty of care" results in a liability due to negligence.   Many victims of Africanized bee attacks are seeking to recover expenses resulting from attacks, including medical bills, veterinary services, pain and suffering and, in some cases, the loss of a pet.    Monetary losses resulting from a single stinging incident have, in some cases, exceeded thousands of dollars. (Jim Erickson. The Arizonia Daily Star, 7/26/98).

Yuma, AZ - ABOVE-AVERAGE-RAINFALL, LOWER TEMPERATURES ATTRACTING BEES -- What's to blame for a recent eruption of bee populations reported in the Yuma area and southern Arizona? El Niņo, of course. Above-average rainfall this year, strong winds and below average temperatures far into June have attracted thousands of bees to the Yuma County area, as well as the rest of the southern half of the state. "This is the busiest we have ever been (with bee complaints)," said Claudia Jones, co-manager of Dixon Pest Control. "We've gotten about five times more calls than we normally get." Jones said the influx of bee populations began about two months ago. Dixon Pest Control exterminates colonies with poisons instead of trying to remove the hives. Jones said prices vary from $20 to $300, depending on the extent of the problem. In the past, the Arizona Department of Agriculture could be a point of contact regarding bee problems. A hot line phone number was available to the public. However, a representative with the department said the agency decided to allow local pest controllers to handle the problems. The hot line also has been removed. Africanized bees and honey bees are difficult to distinguish when swarming, Jones said. "You have to wait until they have built their colony to tell them apart," Jones said. "The Africanized bees will chase you. They are a lot more aggressive than your honey bees are. It's real hard to tell them apart when they are swarming around." People are advised to wait a few days if they come across a swarm of bees. "Many times we get called out to jobs and the bees are gone by the time we get there," Jones said. "People should wait and see a couple of days. Most of the time the bees will leave. Don't panic and overreact." (The Yuma Daily Sun, 7/15/98).

Flour Bluff, TX --- FLOUR BLUFF BEE ATTACK SENDS 3 MEN TO HOSPITAL --- Three men attacked by bees Tuesday morning in Flour Bluff were aided by firefighters and Vector Control personnel. The bees swarmed about 9 a.m. in the 1800 block of Amber Drive, apparently stirred by the sound of machinery being used by two men to cut what appeared to be a firebreak behind a mobile home, said Tim Mattox, acting captain at Corpus Christi Fire Station 13. A third man who ran out to help two men on the crew cutting brush and grass behind a row of homes also was attacked. All three were taken to a local hospital for treatment, Mattox said, adding that none were seriously injured. The hive was never located, said Victor Hinojosa of Vector Control. ``We think it was a passing swarm,'' he said. Firefighters also saved two dogs chained to the porch of the home and three kittens near the door. (The Corpus Christi News, 7/15/98).

Brownsville, TX - SWARMED OVER. The buzz of killer bees is sounding more like "ka-ching!" to pest control companies in South Texas. Increased Africanized bee activity in the Rio Grande Valley, the hype that accompanied their arrival a few years ago and continued publicity over attacks have been a boon to bee killers. In Brownsville alone, at least 10 people a day call an exterminator about bee problems. About nine out of 10 calls are about killer bees, said Santana Lucio, owner of Lucio's Pest Control. "European bees just fly around you. The African ones try to kill, surround you and chase you back to the truck," Mr. Lucio said. "When we're done, our gloves are full of stingers." News reports of Africanized bees injuring people or killing pets help the exterminators' business. "When it's on TV that someone got stung 100 times or about dogs getting killed by bees, they get more concerned about the honey hives," said Gracie Waldhilm of Pest Com Inc. To kill the aggressive bees, exterminators spray the hives with a soap-and-water mixture or a stronger insecticide, depending on the number of bees and their resilience. The exterminators put themselves at risk when they take on the killer bees. Although the Africanized bees' sting is not more lethal than other bees', the insects are known to strike in swarms and pursue victims over greater distances. "It's a job, and we'll do it. But, to be honest, there's been too many [calls], and they're very dangerous," Mr. Lucio said. "One time, the African bees got under the veil of one of the sprayers, and they almost killed him." The heavy protective gear that sprayers wear, which includes openings for gloves and a face mask, is not always enough to protect them from an attack. "You can still feel a strong stinging sensation where the bees are stinging you," said Beto Tijerina, an exterminator with Lara's Pest Control. Exterminators often work after dark, when the bees have settled down and won't be as quick to attack in a group. (AP, 7/14/98).

Tucson, AZ - EL NINO'S 'KILLER' BEE 'TIME BOMBS' GOING OFF -- El Niņo rains are being blamed for what a local honeybee researcher says is ``by far the biggest Swarming season on record'' in Tucson. Flowering plants bloomed like crazy this spring in response to the rains. Africanized ``killer'' honeybees used the pollen and nectar to establish new colonies through a process called reproductive swarming. Africanized bees swarm whenever food is available, and since April they have been setting up shop in roofs, sheds and other small cavities throughout the city. The pollen glut enabled those new colonies to quickly build their numbers, and some hives are now overflowing with tens of thousands of bees. Overcrowding and hot weather make those bees irritable and easily provoked, said Steve Thoenes, president of BeeMaster Inc. of Tucson. ``Watch out for established colonies, because right now they are big enough to be dangerous,'' Thoenes said yesterday. ``Right now you have a whole bunch of little time bombs waiting to go off, and all they need is a stimulus.'' One of those little time bombs detonated near some Vail residents Sunday, and the stimulus may have been a bulldozer rumbling a couple of hundred yards from a bee-infested garage. Lawn mowers and weed whackers have been known to trigger Africanized bee attacks. Karen Fisher said her father, son and brother-in-law were each stung one to three times when the bees poured out of the rafters of a neighbor's garage. Two dogs and a 14-year-old Arabian horse also were stung, Fisher said yesterday. The Fishers were stuck inside their home for about six hours Sunday afternoon and night because the hordes of venomous insects just wouldn't quit, she said. Rincon Valley Fire Department firefighters made the initial response, then AAA Africanized Bee Removal Specialists took over. Company President Tom Martin said there were two bee colonies in the garage, each with at least 45,000 bees. Over the weekend, Martin's company also removed 175 pounds of honeycomb from a home near North Country Club and East Grant roads, he said. There were an estimated 45,000 bees in the building, and about half the honey-filled comb fell through the ceiling and smashed on the floor, Martin said. On Friday, Thoenes killed bees that had invaded the fifth floor of the Pima County Health and Welfare Building, 150 W. Congress St. He sealed openings on the east side of the building, and yesterday there were an estimated 8,000 to 9,000 surviving bees trying to get back inside, Thoenes said. Seventy-seven feet below, the walkway between the county's health and administration buildings was closed to foot traffic and will remain closed until all the bees are removed. Also on Friday, Tucson bee researcher Gerald Loper got a taste of some super-ornery honeybees when he checked on several wild colonies he's been monitoring at a cliff face north of Oracle for 10 years. ``They were terrible. I've never been attacked any worse. They had me running,'' said Loper, who was wearing a full-body protective bee suit at the time. ``I've never seen anything like it,'' said Loper, a veteran beekeeper who has worked with Africanized bees in Arizona, Mexico and Costa Rica. ``As soon as you got near the entrance (of the hive), they came out by the thousands.'' When Loper checked the cliff-side cavities in early March, there were only 12 active colonies living there. Now there are more than 100. He attributes the rise to the boost the bees got from El Niņo this spring. The Oracle-area honeybees were small, dark-colored and extremely aggressive. All three traits lead Loper to believe they are Africanized honeybees. Africanized bees migrated into Southern Arizona from Mexico in 1993 and quickly colonized this part of the state. They have been blamed for three human deaths and numerous animal attacks in Arizona but, overall, have been less of a problem than some people had predicted. Africanized bees couldn't ave timed their arrival in Southern Arizona better. In recent years, wild European honeybee populations across the country have been decimated by tiny parasitic mites. In Southern Arizona, the decline of wild European honeybees reduced competition for food and nest sites, enabling Africanized bees to spread faster. Africanized honeybees seem to have some resistance to the mites, and they reproduce much faster than European bees, Thoenes said. In a big pollen year - like this one - their numbers can increase dramatically. Ninety-eight percent of the wild honeybees that BeeMaster analyzed last year were Africanized. This year Thoenes has been too busy to do the tests, but he suspects that all the wild honeybees he encounters are Africanized. Thoenes said his company has already done more than 1,000 bee-removal jobs in 1998. Normally it would take the full calendar year to reach the 1,000-job plateau, he said. Martin said AAA Africanized Bee Removal Specialists is ``definitely much busier now than at the same time last year.'' `It's not uncommon for us to do between 10 and 20 jobs a day'' this year, Martin said. ``At this time last year, it may only have been four or five in a day.'' Thoenes did his doctoral dissertation on honeybee swarming in Southern Arizona and has swarming statistics that go back 24 years. He said this year's spring swarming season, which began in April and is still under way, is by far the biggest on record. (Jim Erickson, Arizona Daily Star, 7/14/98)

Tucson, AZ - BEES PAY NO RENT -- The buzz in Tucson is all about the house full of Africanized bees. Landlord Liz Franco sent three prospective tenants to see her rental house -- but the trio wisely decided not to go in. They could see tens of thousands of bees swarming on the inside windows. It seems the bees had built a 175-pound honeycomb on the ceiling. Hot weather melted the comb, sending it crashing to the floor. Most of the 45-thousand bees died, but the 15-thousand survivors were as angry as hornets.(AP, 7/13/98).

Vail, AZ -'KILLER' BEES ATTACK DOGS, HORSE IN VAIL -- Africanized bees attacked two dogs and a horse in Vail yesterday and stung two people, authorities said. Rincon Valley Fire Department firefighters found a large beehive in the garage rafters of a house in the 13300 block of Tewa Trail about 3:30 p.m. after neighbors reported the bees attacking the horse and dogs about 150 yards away, said department Capt. Lee Antonides. "It was more bees than I've ever seen," Antonides said. Firefighters were able to move the animals to safety but were unable to estimate the number of stings they suffered, Antonides said. "They all seem to be all right,'' Antonides said. Two neighbors were stung in the attack. The department called in a professional bee removal company to help get rid of the hive, Antonides said. "We got into the roof of the garage and we realized it was far more than we could handle as a fire department,'' Antonides said. AAA Bee Removal officials were removing the hive last night, said AAA owner Tom Martin. (Arizona Daily Star, 7/13/98).

Brownsville, TX - AFRICANIZED BEES BOON TO BUSINESS -- The buzz of bees swarming around the Rio Grande Valley at this time of the year is music to the ears of pest-control companies. The increased bee activity is prompting at least 10 Brownsville residents every day to pick up the telephone and call an exterminator. Ordinary honeybees still abound in the Rio Grande Valley, but about nine of 10 calls to places like Lucio's Pest Control deal with Africanized bees, owner Santana Lucio said. "European bees just fly around you. The African ones try to kill, surround you and chase you to the truck," Lucio said. "When we're done, our gloves are full of stingers." If you find bees around your house, you can call the city health department to take care of the problem. But if the bees have nested in the structure of your house, you may have to turn to a private exterminator. Brownsville Health Department Director Javier Barron warned residents to call a specialist if they find hives near their house -- and stay away from the hive. "Don't mess around with it and don't try to do the job yourself," he said. "And, you might want to check for hives before you do yard work." (Rolando Garcia, The Brownsville Herald, 7/12/98).

College Station, TX - BURNET COUNTY QUARANTINED FOR AFRICANIZED BEES -- Burnet County on Monday was added to the state quarantine restricting the movement of commercial bee operations following the detection of Africanized honey bees there. Texas now has 102 counties quarantined for Africanized honey bees, according to Paul Jackson, chief inspector for the Texas Apiary Inspection Service, a unit of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. The bees were found in an empty hive near Marble Falls after they became disturbed by a man nearby using a lawn mower. Jackson said a sample analyzed by Texas A&M's honey bee identification lab was found to be Africanized. (Kathleen Davis Philips, Texas A&M Agriculture News, 6/29/98).

Tucson, AZ - HORSE KILLED AFTER BEE ATTACK -- A swarm of Africanized honeybees attacked and stung a horse so badly that a veterinarian euthanized the animal. The horse, a Kentucky-bred named Charlie, was in its backyard corral when the bees attacked Tuesday, officials said yesterday. (San Diego Union-Tribune News Services, 6/12/98).

Las Vegas, NV - MORE AFRICANIZED HONEY BEES FOUND IN CLARK COUNTY -- Two more swarms of Africanized "killer bees" have been found in southern Clark County, officials said Wednesday. The swarms were collected from trap sites near Davis Dam and Searchlight, according to the state Department of Agriculture. Last month, two swarms were discovered in the Laughlin area, on the Colorado River dividing Nevada from Arizona. Paul Iverson, division administrator, said additional traps are now being placed near the area where the bees were found, and officials will continue to trace the movement of the bees in Nevada. (AP, Las Vegas Sun, 6/10/98).

El Centro, CA - 'KILLER' BEES PICK UP PACE OF THEIR MOVE INTO STATE -- State agriculture officials have announced Africanized "killer" bees have ventured into San Bernardino County. The bees discovered near Twentynine Palms prompted the state to increase by 50% the area of Southern California considered "colonized" by the hybrid honeybees. The 18,140 square miles now deemed colonized include all of Imperial County and parts of San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego counties. Experts say the bees, whose pace slowed considerably once they reached California's southernmost desert from Arizona four years ago, may owe their newfound headway to favorable feeding conditions spawned by that other publicity hound of the natural world: El Nino. All the extra rain left the normally hostile desert carpeted with more flowering vegetation, improving the bees' reproduction rate and providing a kind of bee superhighway to the west and north. Scientists who once predicted the killer bees' swift arrival in Los Angeles and San Diego say it is still just a matter of time before they hit. Because past predictions have proved faulty and because of the uncertainties presented by the mountainous topography separating the desert region from Los Angeles and Orange counties, experts are hesitant to predict how much time that will be. "I've had a lot of questions--'What happened?' " said Rod Lampman, entomologist for San Bernardino County. "Well, they're still coming." (Ken Ellingwood, Los Angeles Times, 6/2/98).

College Station, TX - McCULLOCH COUNTY QUARANTINED FOR AFRICANIZED BEES -- McCulloch County on Monday was added to the state quarantine restricting the movement of commercial bee operations following the detection of Africanized honey bees there. Texas now has 101 counties quarantined for Africanized honey bees, according to Paul Jackson, chief inspector for the Texas Apiary Inspection Service, a unit of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. The bees were found in a livestock feed crib near Melvin. Jackson said the bees were a nuisance for the livestock, so the hive was killed, and a sample analyzed by Texas A&M's honey bee identification lab was found to be Africanized. (Kathleen Davis, Texas A&M Agriculture News, 6/1/98).

College Station, TX - STEPHENS COUNTY UNDER BEE QUARANTINE -- Texas A&M University has added Stephens County to a quarantine restricting the movement of commercial bee operations following the detection of Africanized honey bees. The Texas A&M Agricultural Extension Service said today the so-called killer bees were destroyed after they were found in an old building seven miles east of Brackenridge. Stephens County is just east of Shackelford County, where Africanized bees were found in April. Paul Jackson, chief inspector for the Texas Apiary Inspection Service, says Texas now has 100 counties quarantined for Africanized honeybees. (Kathleen Davis, Texas A&M Agriculture News, 5/26/98).

San Diego. CA - DOG IS STATE'S FIRST FATALITY FROM KILLER BEES -- A pit bull named Killer was on the losing end of a battle with bees sharing his same name. The dog died last week when he was attacked by Africanized "killer bees" nesting in a tree in the backyard of an El Centro home. The dog was tied to the tree and couldn't escape the swarm. Genetic testing by the state Department of Food and Agriculture confirmed the stings were from Africanized bees. "This is the first confirmed death of an animal or person by Africanized bees in California, "Myrlys L. Williams, spokeswoman for the state Department of Food and Agriculture, said Tuesday. Bill Routhier, who manages the San Diego region for the state agriculture department, said 50 percent of the wild colonies tested this season in Imperial County were Africanized bees. "We've really seen an increase this year and they've extended their range," he said. "They've now reached the desert near the San Bernadino Valley. Eventually, they will cross at the Cajon Pass (north of San Bernadino) and into Los Angeles". "Then they will probably spread along the coast. But it's anyone's guess when that may happen." Connie Valenzuela, deputy agriculture comissioner for Imperial County, reported the owners of the dog in Imperial County said the pet's head was covered with bees when a neighbor tried to rescue it. The dog died within 45 minutes of the attack. The neighbor was stung three times, but did not need medical treatment. Valenzuela said the dog's owners were "especially frantic" about what happened. She declined to release their identities. (Michelle Williams, Associated Press Writer, 5/20/98).

Laughlin, NV - KILLER BEES DISCOVERED NEAR LAUGHLIN -- Africanized bees - the so-called killer bees whose arrival in Southern Nevada has been anticipated for years - are here. Two swarms of the aggressive bee were discovered in the Laughlin area recently but none have been seen in Las Vegas Valley, officials say. A trap south of Big Bend and another behind shrubbery at the Ramada Express hotel-casino yielded individual bees identified as the Africanized variety. "They (the two colonies trapped) have been eradicated," Amanda Getzoff, spokeswoman for the Nevada Division of Agriculture, said today. "But if there are two, there are probably more." She said it's only a matter of time before they arrive in the Las Vegas Valley. (Jerry Fink, Las Vegas Sun, 5/5/98).

Carson City, NV - KILLER BEES ARE FOUND IN NEVADA...FURTHEST POINT NORTH SO FAR -- The killer bees have made it to Nevada, and El Nino may be to blame. Africanized killer bees migrating northward from South America since the 1950's have been found in Nevada, their farthest point north. Two swarms were discovered near Laughlin in the states extreme southern tip, state Agriculture Commission official Paul Iverson said Tuesday. The latest northward spotting may be the result of wetter, cooler weather linked to El Nino, which has increased the growth of nectar-and pollen-producing plants, Iverson said. The bees, descendants of aggressive bees from Africa that escaped from breeding experiments in Brazil in 1956, tend to attack in swarms. They have been blamed for the deaths of more than 1,000 people since 1956. (AP, The Salt Lake City Tribune, 5/5/98).

College Station, TX - BROWN, SHACKELFORD COUNTIES QUARANTINED FOR AFRICANIZED BEES -- Brown and Shackelford counties on Thursday were added to the state quarantine restricting the movement of commercial bee operations following the detection of Africanized honey bees there. Texas now has 99 counties quarantined for Africanized honey bees. In Brown County, the bees were found near a pen in Brownwood. A horse and goat tied near the nest were stung to death. The bees were killed after the attack, and a sample was sent for identification. In Shackelford County, the bees were found under a storage shed in an alley. One person was stung 15 times in that incident but recovered. Samples were analyzed at Texas A&M Honey Bee Identification Lab in College Station and found to be Africanized. (Kathleen Davis, Texas A&M Agriculture News, 4/30/98).

Copperas Cove, TX - CORYELL COUNTY QUARANTINED FOR AFRICANIZED BEES -- Coryell County on Tuesday was added to the state quarantine restricting the movement of commercial bee operations following the detection of Africanized honey bees there. Texas now has 97 counties quarantined for Africanized honey bees. The wild bees were found in an abandoned house, according to Paul Jackson, chief apiary inspector for the Texas Apiary Inspection Service. It is believed that mowing agitated the bees which then stung a dog and a person nearby. Neither were seriously injured and both have recovered from the stings. (Kathleen Davis, Texas A&M Agriculture News, 4/21/98).

Johannesburg, South Africa - HONEY BEES ATTACK NELSON MANDELA -- Hostile honey bees attacked Nelson Mandela in the bathroom, repeatedly stinging the South African president. Mandela, 79, said the bees were buzzing outside his vacation home Saturday in Qunu, in the former Transkei tribal homeland, and then some flew inside and attacked, The Sunday Independent reported. Mandela said he was stung "four or five times" on the abdomen and "also in parts that I can't mention," the newspaper reported. The onetime boxer's combative inclinations got the better of him. When he heard the heavy buzzing, Mandela said, he knew it would better to stand still, but he feared getting stung and quickly reached for some bug spray. "Then they launched a counterattack," he said. "I had to flee." (AP, 4/12/98).

San Diego, CA - THE EL NINO EFFECT: FORAGING "KILLER BEES" WILL BLOSSOM IN REGION -- This winter's heavy rains are expected to give Africanized honey bees -- the so called killer bees -- their best chance yet to finally advance from the California desert to the blooming, irrigated neighborhoods of coastal California. "The whole desert is greening-up", said Rod Lampman, county entomologist in San Bernardino County. "You have got a food supply and you have got a bee that will travel a long way. If the want want to move, they could do it this year." (Steve La Rue, The San Diego Union-Tribune, 3/15/98).

Hamlin, TX - FISHER COUNTY QUARANTINED FOR AFRICANIZED BEES -- Fisher County was added to the Texas state quarantine restricting the movement of commercial bee operations following the discovery of a nest of Africanized bees in a vacant house in Hamlin. Bees collected at the site were analyzed at the Texas A&M Honey Bee Identification Lab in College Station and were found to be Africanized. (Kathleen Davis, Texas A&M Agriculture News, 2/27/98).

Mesa, AZ - MITES MAY BOOST KILLER BEES. Parasitic mites that have devastated bee populations in many parts of the country also have kept Africanized bees from colonizing Arizona as quickly as expected, experts say. That might sound like good news for those fearful of the so-called "killer bees," which are blamed for three deaths since they arrived in Arizona in 1993. But the mites could wind up strengthening the Africanized variety. The trachea and varroa mites have reduced wild colonies of honey bees by as much as 70 percent statewide, said Jennifer Fewell, an Arizona State University biologist who has been studying honey bees since 1985. The mites have taken their toll to different degrees in other states. But the Africanized bees may be developing resistance to the mites more rapidly than honey bees, meaning Africanized bee colonies are slowly replacing the dying honeybees, Fewell said. (AP, 2/5/98)

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